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Lawyers working on changing legislation to allow Micronesians to continue receiving Medicaid benefits will deliver an update on the legal struggle at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Kalihi.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in April that Hawaii has no obligation to offer paid health care benefits to Micronesian migrants covered under the Compact of Free Association (COFA), which allows Palau, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia citizens to live and work in the United States.
A week after the ruling, the state attorney general said Hawaii will continue to provide health benefits for Micronesian migrants until a lawsuit on the issue is resolved.
In 1996, Congress cut health care funding for COFA migrants as part of welfare reform. Hawaii continued paying for full coverage for COFA migrants until 2009 when the state then tried to roll out a reduced-benefits health care plan. A federal judge twice stopped the plan from moving forward, but those rulings were overturned when the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the state.
Since April, St. Elizabeth’s Rev. David Gierlach has organized a monthly "March for Medical Mercy," which aims to build support for changing the law. The next march will get |underway at 10 a.m. Thursday at the church, 720 N. King St.
"I have parishioners who have the need for organ transplants, people in their 30s who will die if they don’t get them," Gierlach said, noting that in addition to marching and sign-waving near Hawaii’s circuit court, the marchers are also asking Hawaii’s congressional delegation to redouble its efforts to reinstate Medicaid payments.
For those interested in participating in the march but cannot walk, vans will be available at the church. For more information, call 845-2112.
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